Ladies' sheer panty hose are usually knit of a stretchable yarn so that the panty hose have sufficient stretch characteristics to properly fit a limited range of body and leg sizes and panty hose are usually produced in three to five or more different sizes to cover substantially the full range of sizes of women in the population. During the manufacture of panty hose, it is common practice to inspect the panty hose for defects or imperfections, such as picks, runs and the like. While this is an important function to insure that the wearer does not receive a panty hose with these defects therein, the purchaser is concerned primarily with obtaining the proper size panty hose which provides a comfortable fit throughout the entire length of the panty hose, from the panty portion and throughout the length of the legs and feet. If the panty hose purchased are too small, the wearer will be unduly constricted in portions of the lower body and/or leg areas. Also, if the panty hose are too large for the wearer, the panty hose will have a tendency to work itself downwardly on the body and legs and cause unsightly wrinkles. Panty hose packaging currently provides a size indication, usually in the form of a chart correlated with weight and height, to indicate the range of various sizes of ladies which the particular panty hose will properly fit. When a lady purchases panty hose which are indicated as being proper for her particular weight and height and then finds that the panty hose are either too large or too small, she will be very unlikely to again purchase that particular brand of panty hose.
In an attempt to standardize the sizing of panty hose between the various panty hose manufacturers, the National Association of Hosiery Manufacturers has made detailed studies of the girth and length dimensions of the legs and lower body portions of a substantial percentage of the female population. Using these dimensions, a set of regression equations has been developed to determine the volumetric area which should be provided in each portion of the panty hose, when compared to the height and weight of the wearer. Using this information, the NAHM published recommendations on Dec. 2, 1969, and published implementation of these recommendations on Mar. 25, 1970. NAHM now provides twelve different sizes of panty hose sizing forms and these forms are generally shaped in the manner illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. Des. 221,798, issued Sept. 7, 1971. This form includes an angularly extending foot portion, a substantially straight front edge with a contoured rear edge including a calf area, a thigh area and a body portion with an unusually sharply curved or rounded buttocks protrusion.
Use of these NAHM forms has been made by certain panty hose manufacturers. However, the use of these forms has been limited because it is extremely difficult and tiring for a person to continuously draw panty hose onto and off of the forms and it is difficult to position the panty hose on the forms with the same amount of tension in all areas of the panty hose. For example the fabric tends to be stretched to a greater extent around the protruding heel and buttocks areas of the form. Also, it is expensive to purchase and maintain twelve different sizes of forms in inventory. It is time consuming to properly size a particular panty hose in accordance with the current practice which includes drawing the panty hose onto as many as four or five different size forms until it is determined that the particular panty hose fits a particular form better than the next adjacent size forms.